Railway-rail joint



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s. PQSTEYER. RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

No. 289,465. Patented D60. 4, 1883.

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S. F. STEVER.

' 'RAILWAYEAIL JOINT. No. 289,465; Patented Dec. 4, 1883.

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PatentedDeo. 4, 1883.

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RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SOL. F. STEVER, OF FAIRFIELD, IOWVA.

RAI LWAY-RAI L JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,465, dated December4, 188 3.

Application filed December 29, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SoL. F. Srnvnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fairfield, in the county of Jefferson and State of Iowa,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway-Rail Joints,(which invention has not been patented to me, or to others with myconsent or knowledge, in any foreign country,) of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway-rail joints; and theobjects of my invention are to confine .the binding hook or clasp to itsplace by means of a stop on each side of the joint, which will preventthe hook or clasp from sliding in either direction, and will thus keepthe joint always closely bound together.

I am aware that fish-plates and angle-barshave heretofore been used, andthat a binding-clasp such as is herein described has heretofore beenused to hold a railway-rail joint i of the joint.

together.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a general View of myimproved joint. Fig. 2 represents an end view or cross-section Fig. 3represents the clasp or double hook, which passes under the anglebars inmy joint andbinds them against the rails. Fig. 4 represents my improvedanglebar, showing its general form and the stop on its edge to hold theclasp in position. Fig. 5

represents another form of my improved angle-bar, used only on theoutside of the rails to make a continuous rail at the joint. Fig. 6represents an end View of the joint with an 1 outside angle-bar of theform shown in Fig. 5.

The following is a detailed description of the drawings explaining myinvention and the manner of constructing and using it.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in all the figures of thedrawings. r

R R represent the ends of two ordinary I railroad-railsmeeting in thejoint at j, Fig. 1.

P P represent my improved fish-plates or anglebars, called in thisspecification angle-bars. They are made of wrought or rolled iron,steel, or other equivalent material inthe form shown in the drawings,and so as to fit the sides of the rails, extending beyond the edges ofthe web or bottom of the rail on each side a distance equal to half thewidth of the ers twice as wide as the rail.

bottom of the rail, giving the joint a bottom or surface to restupon thecross-ties or sleep- The sides of the angle-bars through which thecross-bolts b I) pass are full or flush with the sides of the crown ofthe rails. The angle-bars are interchangeable, so that each bar may beused either on the inside or on the outside of the rails, and they areso used indifferently. The angle-bars l? P are held against the sides ofthe rails R R, and the joint is bound together by two means: first, bybolts passing through the angle bars, and the intervening rails securedby nuts, or nuts and washers, as in the joints with fish-plates andangle-bars now in common use; second, by the clasp or double hook H Hdescribed below. The notches 'IHL are for the passage of ordinaryrailroad-spikes to fasten the joint to the cross-ties or sleepers.

The clasp or double hook H is made of wrought-iron, steel, or otherequivalent material, in the form shown by the figures. It passes underthe angle-bars P P and the intervening rails, B R, and clasps theangle-bars on each side against the rails firmly and securely by thehooks h h at each end. It is held in its place and prevented fromslipping lengthwise along the edges of the angle-bars by the stops 8 8,one of which is on the edge of each anglebar, and so placed that thestop on the edge of the outside angle-bar prevents the clasp fromslipping in one direction, and the stop on the edge of the insideangle-bar prevents it from slipping in the opposite direction. The jointis constructed by placing one of my improved angle-bars P on one side ofthe railroad-rails, which are brought together at the middle of theangle-bar, with the anglebar placed closely against the rails, as inFig. 1. The clasp H is placed under the anglebar, with one of the hooksh h clasping the outer edge of the angle-bar and resting against thestop 8. Another of the angle-bars is slipped along the opposite side ofthe rails, passing under the other hook it of the clasp H, until itsstop 8 comes against the clasp H in the position shown in Fig. 1. Theapertures in the angle-bars and in the intervening rails for thecross-bolts b b will then be in line. The cross-bolts are passed throughthese apertures. The nuts on the points of the bolts are screwed upuntil they press against the anglebars or against the washers on thebolts, and the joint is bound together by them. The

5 joint is then ready to" be fastened to the crossties or sleepers bydriving ordinary railroadspikes through the notches n n.

Another form of my improved angle-bar (shown by G in Figs. 5 and 6) isused only on the outside of the rails, in the place of one of theangle-bars P, the inside of the joint being formed by the otherangle-bar, I as described above. It makes a continuous rail at thejoint, as is shown by Fig. 6. It is made of the same materials and inthe same manner as the anglebar 1?, above described; but the form ismodified, as is shown by the drawings and as described below. It is ofthe same general dimensions'as the angle-bar I. It has the stop 8, thenotches n n, and the apertures for the bolts, and is made to fit closelyagainst the sides of the rails, as in I; but ithas a crown or headextending its entire length, whose width on top is three-fourths thewidth of the rail. The top of this crown or head is on the same level asthe top of the rail, so that it will receive the tread of the car-wheelsand carry them past the junction, thus making a continuous rail at thejoint. This crown or head is supported by the increased thickness of thepart of the anglebar G which fits against the stem 1' of the rails, andthrough which the cross bolts pass, which gives it the same strength asthe rails themselves. The crown or head is a little lower at the endsthan in the middle, and slopes gradually from each end to the middle, soas to prevent any jarring or clicking when the wheels come upon it. Thejoint shown in Fig. 6 is put together in the same manner as the jointshown in Fig. 1, which is described above. I am aware that railway-railjoints have been made prior to my invention by the use of fish-platesand angle-bars of various forms, which were placed along the sides ofthe rails, and bolts were passed through the plates or bars and theintervening rails. I do not therefore, in broad terms, claim a joint somade; but

WVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is the fOllOl ing:

In a railway-rail joint, the stop 8, in combination with the fish-platesor angle-bars P I and the clasp H, substantially as described in theforegoing specification.

SOL. r. srnvnn.

\Vitnesses:

J. S. MCKEMEY, O. M. J UNKIN.

